Wednesday, February 23, 2011

downtown ojai - miscellaneous

downtown ojai consists of the main thoroughfare on ojai ave., where an arcade of shops and eateries line the street, directly across from libbey park.

the post office - a four-story spanish tower - is the city's most celebrated building and landmark.

since we arrived in the early afternoon on monday, we went in search of lunch options and settled on bonnie lu's - an old school country café whose motto is "good fixins served with a smile." the decor is quite charming and my super thin blueberry pancakes disappeared in seconds. we then made a beeline to the ice cream shop, where they make everything (including fudge!) homemade. next door is casa barranca for wine tasting and an art gallery, but apparently they aren't too fond of peeps bringing in ice cream as evidenced by their door sign...

our dinner search was an easy one - not only was it rated #1 in town, but my mom even heard of it - so suzanne's cuisine it was. it's a cute and romantic spot a few blocks away from downtown and run by the mother/daughter team of suzanne and sandra. since we were still smarting from lunch, ice cream AND wine/cheese, we skipped the appetizers and went straight for the main course. i opted for the misoyaki butterfish w/green caviar and she had the jumbo shrimp w/chili butter. dessert was this scrumptious pineapple/mascarpone cheese/strawberry concoction that was to die for...